Lot Essay
This work is sold with a photo-certificate from David McNeil.
The present lot must have been executed in Berlin circa 1922, when Chagall left his beloved Russia for the second time. Moreover, according to Rakitin, this drawing is a preparatory sketch for the well-known Autoportrait avec une chèvre lithograph which was done in an edition of three, one of which was coloured by hand in 1922-1923. This would imply that the self-portrait dates from circa 1922-1923 rather than David McNeil's first suggested date of 1925.
The present lot must have been executed in Berlin circa 1922, when Chagall left his beloved Russia for the second time. Moreover, according to Rakitin, this drawing is a preparatory sketch for the well-known Autoportrait avec une chèvre lithograph which was done in an edition of three, one of which was coloured by hand in 1922-1923. This would imply that the self-portrait dates from circa 1922-1923 rather than David McNeil's first suggested date of 1925.